Kansas softball splits doubleheader at Furman

Greenville, S.C.  The Kansas University softball team ended up on both sides of dominant pitching performances Saturday afternoon and split a doubleheader with Furman at Pepsi Softball Stadium.

KU sophomore Alicia Pille tossed a seven-inning shutout in the opening game of the twinbill, a 4-0 victory. Pille (9-6) allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out eight Paladins.

The Jayhawks scored all of their runs in the sixth inning, with RBIs by Rosie Hull and Ashley Newman and two more runs off an error by Furman pitcher Meaghan Houston after an Alex Jones slap grounder.

Jones pitched well in the second game, allowing just four hits and two runs in six innings, but Kansas’ offense stalled in a 2-0 loss.

Furman’s Lauren Collier held the Jayhawks to just two hits — doubles by Maggie Hull and Alex Hugo — in the seven-inning shutout.

“We were really flat today,” KU coach Megan Smith said. “I think you have to go out and play a team like Furman the same way we play a team like Texas Tech and were weren’t even close to that today.”

The loss dropped Kansas to 25-11 overall, including a 3-3 record in the Big 12 conference.

Jones (7-2) took the loss, despite retiring 15 straight batters after Furman’s scores in the first two innings.

“Our pitching was good and we made some good defensive plays,” Smith said. “But overall the attitude from the entire team was disappointing. We have to bounce back and find it within ourselves to come out and be an entirely different team tomorrow than we were today.”